Sepia Saturday: Why did the teacher cross the road?

Growing up in the 60s and 70s, I was well aware of both
violent and peaceful demonstrations supporting civil rights and women’s rights
and opposing the war in Vietnam.
Love-ins and Sit-ins were common enough as people sought to advance
their cause through non-violent means.

My freshman year in college awakened me to the world of
liberal thinking. Freedom of speech. Freedom of expression. Do your own thing. These were new guideposts on the road to
becoming an adult, an educated thinker, a positive force in making the world a
better place.

Wilson Hall

In 1970 I had a chance to do just that. When several of
the “hippie” professors in the English department went on the chopping block,
students rallied in their defense. A
sit-in in Wilson Hall would surely get the attention of the president, the
deans, the Board of Visitors, and anyone else who could reverse a stupid
decision not to renew their contracts.

I made up my mind to join in. I admired my hippie English professor with
his long hair and beard and his choice to wear cowboy boots and a cape to
class. I managed to laugh when he showed
up one afternoon with bloodshot eyes and wrote “Connery O’Flanner” on the
board. That didn’t matter. He was brilliant. I would defend his rights.

Eh. Who was I
kidding? Since my dormmates took no
interest, I wasn’t about to go by myself. I was shy.
I was also Chicken. Yep. That’s me all day. But thank goodness for that yellow streak
because the non-violent protestors who refused to leave Wilson Hall were
promptly arrested and charged with trespassing.

Oh, my parents would have snatched me bald-headed had I
been carted downtown and fingerprinted.

Fast forward to the late 1970s. I marched in peaceful protest. And my mother marched with me (although she
would have been appalled at my thoughts of doing such a thing ten years
previous to that). We were both teachers
for Portsmouth Public Schools. Our
beef? What else – pay!

Don’t ask me what the specific issues were. I can’t remember. Probably we had gone several years with no
pay raise. But that year we had had
enough and we weren’t going to take it anymore.
The teachers were united. We were
committed to walking out of the classroom if City Council and the School Board
didn’t pay attention and come through with more money.

We must have gotten a little something because we didn’t
have to walk out. Democracy in action!

This past school year, my nephew Joel likewise made the
newspaper marching as a teacher for Portsmouth Public Schools.

Colonel Crawford leads students across High Street.A Union soldier stops traffic.Joel Pollock with his signature Top-Siders and sunglasses walks with his students.

But he wasn’t marching in protest. He was marching his middle schoolers across
High Street on a field trip to learn about the history of their City. Instead of reading a history book, the
students toured important landmarks including Trinity Church and the Courthouse. They heard the story of Portsmouth’s early
beginnings from its founder, Colonel William Crawford (portrayed by Eric Price
who was known as “Ricky” when we were in high school! Guess “Eric” is more dignified for someone
who has made quite a career of wearing a powdered wig and gold brocade
coat).

The old newspaper clipping of his aunt and grandmother
taking a stand is displayed on the bulletin board of Joel’s social studies
classroom at Churchland Middle School.
Now he has his own newspaper clipping of the day HE crossed the road. Perfect bookends.

Ah it brings back memories for me of all the peace marches I went on in the 60s and 70s. We may have been idealistic, we may have been naive - but given the times and given the issues I would be marching again tomorrow.

As a retired hippie and protest-marcher, I can see I'm in good company! I'd be right there with Alan, but I just don't have the energy any more -- it's time for the younger ones to do their shares. Great photos, Wendy...brought back lots of memories for me!

I wasn't a "hippie" or even a protestor, but I admired those who were and what they stood for - most of the time. They changed attitudes about so many different things we had always taken for granted. It was a great era and I'm glad to have been a part of it - if only in small ways.

Thank you for reminding me about these times of protest. I must admit I was someone who did not put her head above the parapet, and my student rebellion was confined to wearing a duffle coat. Wilson Hall is a lovely building - where was it?

Wilson was THE main building on the campus of Madison College (now James Madison University) in Harrisonburg, Virginia. It held a lot of the administrative offices, but it was also the building for English courses. Some of the professors had offices there too.

I've never marched for peace either, so I take my hat off to you. I've done my bit by choosing this theme for Sepia Saturay and hopefully raised awareness - that's the teacher in me! It must have been a great feeling having your mother marching beside you.

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About Me

My name is Wendy. About twenty years ago, I helped my mother research the Jolletts. Since retiring from teaching, I have expanded my research which I share here. When I’m not looking for my own family, I index for FamilySearch and the Greene County Historical Society.
Welcome to Jollett Etc. Please leave a comment to let me know you were here. If you have more information or believe we are related, EMAIL ME at wendymath at cox dot net